Not to mention the gaming pieces found on prehistoric and historic Iroquois
sites.  Some will be small shale or slate disks about 1.5-2 or more cm in
diameter, sometimes a small hole drilled in the center, I've seen one with
a slight notch.

On the protohistoric Diable Site (Oneida Iroquois, c. 1580) I found several
"gaming pieces" made from the unmarked and relatively flat sherds of
pottery vessels.  I found at least one pottery disk of about 3 cm, with
ground edges and another of the same size that was chipped round but not
smoothed.  A third piece is about 3 cm. or so SQUARE that had been chipped
to shape but not ground down and the chipping had been done from one side
leaving a neat bevelled edge all around like you'd see on the edge of a
slate shingle.

What was neatest about the latter (square) piece is that it is made of
shell-tempered (Susquehannock?) pottery which is a great temporal marker
for the protohistoric and indicating extensive contact with the southern
trade routes.

I know similar gaming pieces have been found on similar sites in the
northeast (US) and they are always considered gaming pieces and the
ethnological works report the use of small round gaming pieces in several
Iroquois games to support this.

I'd say in the whole scheme of things that what will suffice will be used,
and that a blank or undecorated section will most likely be chosen.  Any
specific decoration (such as the choice of a face that appears on the
original sherd) or shape differentiation will help to demark that piece in
some specific way.  Since we can't really identify that specific purpose,
you might as well take the easy way out and call it ceremonial.

        Dan W.